Vegas
by phoebe9509
Summary: The team think of a plan to push Hotch and Emily together. Will it work?
1. Chapter 1

_So this is a work in progress. I've had a lot of this written out for almost a year, but I'm finally able to start working on the ending chapters, so I hope you guys like it. I know the first chapter is pretty short, but it has to get them ready for what is going to happen. I'll hopefully have the second part up tomorrow, I just have to go through and fix any mistakes. Let me know what you think if you have the time!_

"No, no, no," Reid exclaimed like a chant to the four people whispering around him. "NO, I will not have anything to do with this. I refuse."

"What's the worst that could happen, kid?"

"Oh, I don't know, they could kill you! Literally kill you and they'd probably get away with it!"

"Nothing is going to happen, Spence. In fact they'll probably thank us," the blonde informed her worried friend.

"Thank us for lying to them? I doubt that. _Kill_ us for lying is more like it. I'm out!" He cried as he started to walk away.

Garcia's hand wrapped around his small wrist and pulled him back. "You aren't going anywhere genius. We need you on this! And if you don't want to help you still have to stay here."

"Why? When Emily finds out she will hurt me."

"If you don't stay_ I_ will hurt you," Garcia informed him with a sweet deadly smirk.

"Why are you doing this to me?" he whined.

"Calm down," Rossi finally chimed in. "We're doing this for their own good. It'll get them past the awkward phase."

"Have you seen the Hangover kid? It'll be just like that."

"Yes I have seen that and if you don't recall someone lost a tooth, they stole a tiger, someone married a whore and they couldn't find their friend!"

Morgan blinked rapidly then took a deep breath. "Okay, so it won't be _just _like that."

"But you'll make them forget what happened."

"That's the point," Garcia groaned loudly.

"Spence," JJ started then pulled him aside, "if they don't remember then they'll guess that it did happen. We need them not to recall what was going on."

Reid started to protest again, but JJ quickly cut him off.

"Nothing is going to happen to them. They're going to drink some then practically pass out and we'll handle the rest. They will be safe—no one will lose any teeth. I promise. And you know me, if anything starts to get out of hand I'll step in and end it. This is supposed to be fun," she explained. "We're doing this for them."

Reid bowed his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. He felt a headache coming on. He turned his gaze back to JJ. "I don't want to be a part of this. You four can sign your own death certificate but I'm not signing mine, but I will stay here in the sidelines."

"That's fine," JJ smiled. "Thanks Spence," she said before heading back over to the three sitting patiently at the table. "We're all set."


	2. Chapter 2

The team all gathered down at the club next to the slot machines. All the men were dressed casually and the ladies went for a sexier look. Garcia and JJ had on matching dresses while Emily had on a simple but sexy black dress with one shoulder strap that stopped right above her knees. Emily chose to have her hair down in soft curls that fell over her shoulders.

Once Hotch spotted Emily he had to remind himself to breathe. She looked amazing and he had to force his gaze away from her. Alcohol started coming at them from all directions and the team took what they were offered. After four shots, on top of what Emily already had, she was ready to dance, so she quickly grabbed a hold of JJ and Garcia's hands and pulled them onto the floor with her.

The men watched as the three ladies danced with each other and Hotch was jealous of JJ and Garcia considering the fact that Emily was in between both of them and she had no problem grinding her hips into both of them. Hotch had to control the rage that was threatening to erupt from him when he saw a young man walk up to the girls and ask Emily if she wanted to dance. Not wanting to know the answer, he quickly got up from his seat and headed for the bathroom.

Morgan and Dave exchanged a quick look with each other before putting their plan into action. They both slipped something into Hotch and Emily's drinks and they sat back down right as Hotch returned to the table. Without saying a word, he lifted the small glass to his lips and gulped back the rest of his drink. Morgan winked at Reid as he got up and grabbed Emily's glass as he headed over to the ladies. He worked his way in between Emily and the young man and started to dance with her, all while offering her her drink, which she took greedily and drank it back.

Dave and Reid noticed that Hotch was rather quiet, and his eyes were drooping slightly. Morgan dragged Emily back with him with JJ and Garcia trailing behind making sure Emily stayed on her feet. Morgan sat Emily down in the seat next to Hotch and she immediately leaned into him, causing Hotch to open his eyes a bit. After a moment of silence Emily let out a loud laugh at nothing and she threw her arm around Hotch's neck, trying to hug him.

"We need to get them out of here," Garcia barked over the loud music.

Morgan nodded his head. "Okay, I'll get Hotch to the elevator, but you girls have to get Emily." The two girls agreed and pried Emily away from Hotch and helped her to her feet as Morgan did the same with Hotch. Once the five were in the elevator Morgan leaned Hotch against the wall while the girls placed Emily in front of him. His hands immediately went out to rest of her waist and pulled her closer to him. The three watched as his hands slid down to her ass and squeezed. A small moan escaped Emily's lips and the scheming three wondered if they even needed to give them anything other than alcohol to make them act on their feelings for each other.

The second the elevator hit floor 12 Morgan turned to help Hotch, he noticed that Emily had passed out already, and Hotch was right behind her.

"I'm gonna have to carry Emily, so you two are going to have to drag Hotch," he informed the blondes. The two nodded then looked at each other wondering how they were going to do this.

Morgan quickly picked Emily up into his arms bridal style and carried her towards the room they had already set up. Just as he was putting the key card into the slot he turned back and chuckled loudly at JJ and Garcia struggling to drag Hotch down the hallway. He watched as both ladies looked at each other than gently placed Hotch on the ground and they each grabbed an arm and pulled their boss the rest of the way towards the room.

"Why is he so heavy?" Garcia cried out once she reached Derek and she leaned against the wall in exhaustion, dropping Hotch's arm.

"He is dead weight baby girl. He's not going to be light." Morgan opened the door, carried Emily to the bed placing her down gently. He made his way back to the girls and told Garcia to hold the door while he picked Hotch up and placed him down next to Emily.

"Wow," Garcia gushed as she watched her man in action. "That was hot."

Morgan couldn't control the laugh that left him. "Thanks. Now how do you want to do this?"

"Take off Hotch's pants," JJ said to Morgan.

His eyes snapped up to hers and he arched an eyebrow. "Are you out of your pretty little mind? I'm not taking his pants off!" he argued.

"Well we aren't," the two blondes protested with their hands on their hips.

"It would make more sense for you two to undress Hotch while I take Prentiss."

"You are not laying a finger on my little gumdrop. Knowing you your hands will roam," Garcia chided.

"Fine, get her undressed," he said grumpily as he went to work on getting Hotch undressed. He was minding his own business, trying not to look at Hotch or Prentiss but Garcia's next statement threw that hope out of the window.

"Wow, she has really nice boobs."

Morgan started to choke on air. JJ walked over to him and patted his back. "Are you okay?"

"Stop talking about her boobs," he pleaded. Although he told his mind to behave itself he couldn't help but taking a peek at Emily. The girls already had her undressed except for her black strapless bra and boy shorts. He gave an approved look when he noticed that Garcia was right, she really did have nice boobs. Morgan finally looked away and hurriedly took off Hotch's shirt.

JJ snatched Hotch's clothes out of his hands and threw the clothes all over the room along with Emily's. "What now?" she turned towards Garcia.

"We have to position them," she told them as she snapped her fingers at Morgan and told her to move Hotch towards the top of the bed.

After five minutes of arguing, cursing, and breathing heavily, the trio finally got the duo in the position they wanted. Hotch was in the middle of the bed in only his boxers while Emily was placed half on top of him. Her leg was draped over his, and her breasts were against his chest. They placed Hotch's hand over Emily's ass.

"We're still missing something," JJ pointed out, but didn't know what it was exactly.

"Her hair," Morgan pointed out, which caused the two girls to look at him. "What?" he shrugged. "When I spend a hot passionate night with a honey, her hair is always messed up," he informed them as he walked over to Emily and ran his hands through her hair making it a knotty mess. Once he finished that he grabbed a hold of the blanket and ripped it off the bed while leaving the sheet half on the bed to make the scene look more realistic.

"That's perfect," Garcia clapped. "Now let's get out of here and let our two lovelies get some sleep," she said as she grabbed her bag and all evidence that they were there and headed for the door.

"Oh my God, wait!" JJ cried out as she rushed back over and placed the two pieces of silver on the two sleeping brunettes and walked towards the door again and pushed the two out of the room closing it tightly behind her.

"Let's go get a drink," Morgan suggested as he slung his arms around JJ and Garcia's shoulders then headed towards the elevator.

"As long as you promise not to put anything in it," Garcia laughed as they entered the box and smiled to themselves at a job well done.


	3. Chapter 3

_The fact that "Wheels Up" is on the season 7 boxset of Criminal Minds makes me smile, but the fact that the extended scene with Hotch and Prentiss in Unknown Subject isn't on it annoys me. Either way, thank you so much for all of the reviews everyone. I hope you guys are enjoying this story so far…and without farther ado, here is hopefully one of the parts you all are waiting for! _

Emily turned her pounding head to the left and her eyes slowly fluttered open. Once the fuzziness left and her gaze focused Emily let out a blood curling scream then sat up quickly.

Her screech startled the sleeping man in the bed. Hotch sat up and placed his hand on his head. "Why are you screaming?" he asked still half asleep.

"What are you doing in here?" she yelled as she gazed around the room and realized that she didn't know where she even was. This wasn't her hotel room and it wasn't Hotch's either.

Finally rubbing his eyes, and getting to see what the problem was, Hotch's eyes grew wide. "Where are we?"

"I have no idea," Emily looked down and saw her state of dress, or lack there of, and screamed again as she wrapped the sheet around her half naked body, but not quick enough before Hotch could gaze at her with a look she never saw on him before. . "Holy—. Did we have sex?" she shrieked.

"I don't—"

"Do you feel any different?"

Hotch couldn't help but chuckle softly. "It doesn't exactly work that way Prentiss."

"Don't you dare Prentiss me right now Hotch," she barked as she pointed a finger at him. She looked at her hand then gasped as she quickly grabbed a hold of Hotch's hand and groaned loudly. "Oh my _God_!"

"What is it?"

Emily held their hands together so he could see. "We got married Hotch!" she yelled. "When the _fuck _did we get married? Do you remember?"

Hotch shook his head in disbelief. "I don't know what's going on," he confessed as he held her hand in his and looked at the ring like it was going to tell him the answers to what happened.

Emily started to say something until her eyes traveled down Hotch's chest and for the first time saw all of the scars Foyet left designing his chest.

"Emily."

"Yeah?" she answered absentmindly.

Hotch grabbed the sheet and pulled it over the offending scars. Emily quickly snapped out of her daze and fought against Hotch to pull the sheet back down.

"Stop it!" she argued. She ripped the sheet from his hands and gazed up at him. "There is something beautiful about them Hotch. In a way they tell a story. They show where you've been and what you have been through and the strength you possess. Don't hide from that."

"Well you don't have to look at them like that Prentiss," he snapped.

"I'm sorry," she apologized quickly. "I've never seen them before and I was just transfixed for a minute. I'm sorry, it won't happen again, but don't hide them Hotch, they tell a beautiful story in a way," she confessed then watched as his face blushed lightly at her words.

Hotch cleared his throat and leaned against the headboard. "Okay, so we got married_ and_ we slept together but we aren't sure if we had sex," he quickly ran through all of the facts.

"And I remember none of it," she confessed. "The last thing I remember," she started then stopped to actually remember, "is the club."

"That's the last thing I remember as well."

Emily ran a hand through her tangled hair. She couldn't get over the fact that by how knotty her hair was she actually did have sex. Emily turned her head towards Hotch and found him looking at her intently. "What are we going to do?" she asked as she aimed to get her mind off of his look.

"I have no idea."

"We can't tell anyone Hotch."

Hotch shot Emily a strange look. "But they might know something. We were all at the club together, maybe they were there for the rest of it."

"What if they weren't?" Emily panicked. "How are we supposed to tell the team that we got married and possibly had sex?"

Hotch squirmed uncomfortably. "You have no idea if we did anything Emily."

"UM…HI! Look at us," she argued as she let the sheet drop. "Have you seen how we're dressed? And we're married Hotch. If not being in a relationship was the only thing keeping us from sleeping together, that kind of went out of the window don't you think?"

Hotch couldn't help but let his eyes linger on her lace clad breasts. She was angry and her chest was heaving. He noticed how the black from her bra contrasted perfectly against her pale skin. He squirmed on the bed again and bunched the sheet up around his waist. What was going on? The second he wakes up next to her and they're married he's suddenly okay with being with her? There were plenty of reasons to not be with her in the first place, but as he stared at her, he couldn't think of a single one of those reasons.

The feeling of unease ran through Emily as she noticed Hotch's gaze. She needed his focus back up so she said something that she knew was going to lead them down a path she wasn't sure she wanted to go. "And look at my hair Hotch, it seems to me that I was on my back for most of the night!"

Emily watched as his eyes snapped up to her hair. She was right, her hair was every which way and no where near as perfect as it usually was. But as he looked her over, he thought that she never looked more beautiful.

A phone started to go off and Emily immediately recognized the ringtone she had set for JJ. Her eyes darted around the room looking for the small device then spotted it on the table next to the bed by Hotch. Emily crawled her way towards him, then reached across him to grab for the phone. Hotch tried to move out of the way but the way she was hovering over him he was stuck.

"JJ?" Emily breathed into the phone. "Where are you?"

"I'm at the hotel. I was just going to head down for breakfast but you aren't answering your door. Neither is Hotch. Do you know where he is?"

"Why would I know where Hotch is?" she snapped.

Hotch placed a hand on her back and Emily looked over at him. "Calm down," he mouthed and she nodded trying to ignore the burning flesh where his hand rested.

"Well the last time I saw you last night you were with Hotch," JJ informed her honestly.

Emily turned away from Hotch and spoke calmly into her phone. "Can't say that I've seen him," she lied.

"Okay, well if you run into him tell him to come down for breakfast, and get your skinny ass down here Em," JJ told her while trying not to laugh, "I'll see you in a bit."

Emily snapped her phone shut, threw it back on the night stand and sat back on her feet. "What are we going to do Hotch?" Emily asked as she felt panic begin to build inside of her again. "We have to go down to breakfast and…" she trailed off. This was one conversation that she did not want to have. She got married to her boss! And not only that but she slept with him. A small frown came across her face when she went over that fact and then realized that she didn't remember sleeping with him.

"What's wrong?" Hotch asked as he noticed the frown.

Emily quickly shook her head of all thoughts, "nothing," she tried to smile.

"Well I suggest we get dressed and head down to breakfast and just act as normal as possible." He ran a hand through his hair and Emily bit back a smirk as she took in his bed head.

"I can do that," she informed him as she grabbed the sheet and wrapped it tightly around her body before getting off the bed and went in search of her dress. Once she found it she ran into the bathroom and put it on. Her eyes flicked up to the mirror and she gasped out loud. "Jesus Christ!" she mumbled as she ran a hand through her hair trying to get all the knots out. "You could have told me my hair was a rat's nest," she yelled through the closed door.

"You looked fine," Hotch called out as he pulled his pants up. He glanced over at the bed and let out a sigh. He was married to Emily Prentiss. He _slept_ with Emily Prentiss. What the hell was he going to do? She was his subordinate…she was his friend, one of his best friends…and now she was his wife. He was pulled from his thoughts when the bathroom door opened and Emily stepped out in her dress from last night.

"Are you ready to go?" she quickly asked as she grabbed her heels and stepped into them.

"Whenever you are." Hotch headed for the door then looked at the bed once more before holding the door open for Emily. She quickly walked into the hall and headed towards the elevator with him following closely behind. As the elevator descended Hotch broke the awkward silence. "We'll talk about this later," he stated.

Emily nodded her head in agreement. She was not looking forward to that conversation. She couldn't help but think to herself that a part of her wanted to be with Hotch, a very large part of her actually, but another part was worried that if she expressed that to him it would make things even more awkward between them. If there was one thing she didn't want, it was to lose Hotch as a friend because of all of this. That was one thing Emily would not let happen, no matter what.

As the elevator doors opened and Hotch let Emily walk out in front of him and his hand lightly rested on the small of her back for a split second before he realized what he did and dropped his hand, he knew he was in trouble. Deep trouble and he didn't know how he was going to get out of it, and if Hotch was being completely honest with himself, he wasn't sure if he even _wanted_ to get out of it.


	4. Chapter 4

_Hey everybody! Thank y'all so much for the reviews, I really appreciate it. So I know where I want this story to go for the next 3 chapters, but after that I have nothing, _soooooo_ if you guys want to give me any ideas or suggestions that would be _greatly_ appreciated! _

"There you two are!" Garcia beamed from the table as Hotch and Emily strolled up. They had no choice but to take the two empty seats right next to each other. "What took you two so long?"

"My alarm didn't go off," Emily lied smoothly, "and then I ran into Hotch on the way down here."

"Why are you wearing the same dress from last night?" Reid asked.

Emily looked down at her outfit and realized that she was in fact wearing the same dress, why didn't she think to change? "Oh," she laughed, "since I woke up late I didn't want to take the time to change, so I just ran out of the room in this."

"Well even the next morning you still look amazing," Morgan grinned at her as he wiggled his eyebrows. His eyes shot to Hotch and he had to bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing considering Hotch was now glaring at him. Clearly their plan worked last night or at least it was getting his friends mind working, and that was all he could ask for.

"So what are you going to have today Em? The waitress is coming back." JJ informed the brunette as she watched her eyes quickly fly over her menu.

"What can I get for you?" the young girl asked the duo.

"I'll have a bagel with cream cheese and a side order of bacon please," Emily ordered quickly then threw her menu down before taking a big sip of her water that was placed in front of her. Panic began to bubble up inside of her and she knew that her friends were going to ask her lots of questions. Ones that she didn't have the answers to. Emily tried to discretely take a few deep breaths as she listened to Hotch order. She relaxed at the sound of his voice and she realized that she was in trouble. Since when was she affected by the tone of his voice? Her mind tried its hardest to remember last night. What if they really did have sex? How did he murmur her name? Was it even sexier than how he would say Emily now? Why was she so upset that she couldn't remember if she had sex with him?

Breakfast came and once Emily saw the sausage links that Hotch had ordered she quickly snatched one up before he could stop her and took a bite.

"Damn princess," Morgan started, "are you enjoying Hotch's sausage?"

Emily's eyes grew wide as she choked on the delicious breakfast food. Hotch smacked her back lightly as he fought the urge to roll his eyes at Morgan's choice of words. He knew that if they knew what was going on they would not be making jokes. As his eyes went around the table, he realized that he was wrong and they would _definitely_ make jokes at their expense. Emily's breathing returned to normal and Hotch smirked as she shot Morgan a glare that would scare even him. He slowly let his hand rub her back without thought and quickly pulled it away when he felt her tense at his movement.

Emily watched out of the corner of her eye as Hotch removed his hand and picked up his fork and dug right into his eggs. There was no doubt in her mind that they had to talk about what they were going to do, and they had to do it soon because the longer they waited the worse it was probably going to be. Her dark gaze latched onto his and he nodded his head, knowing what she wanted without a single word being uttered between them.

The rest of breakfast went by without anymore choking incidents but the team continued to make sly remarks that had the raven haired duo wondering if they knew more than they were letting on.

"The plane is set to leave in three hours," Hotch said as he stood from his seat. "I suggest everyone go finish packing and do whatever else they'd like while we're still here." With one final quick glance at Emily he headed out of the restaurant.

Hotch entered his actual hotel room this time and waited patiently for the knock on his door that he knew was going to come. Five minutes later he heard a timid knock and had to stop himself from rushing to the door to let her in.

"Come on in," he said softly as Emily practically ran into his room.

"Sorry it took me so long. I had to wait for everyone to go into their own rooms so I could knock on yours," she informed him as she took a seat on the chair he was previously sitting in. They sat in silence for a few minutes waiting for the other to start the conversation. How to start the dreaded conversation was running through both of their minds. Finally Emily couldn't stand it anymore and she stood up and started pacing around the small room, picking her nails as she went. "Where do you think we can get this taken care of?"

Hotch watched as she burned a hole in the carpet and he had to smile at how nervous she was about all of this. There was a strong desire in him to wrap her in his arms and tell her that everything was going to be okay, and alarms went off in his head at that thought that made him wonder where that thought came from. He didn't hug people that weren't his son. And he certainly didn't hug Emily Prentiss.

A large part of him wanted to know what it would be like to be married to the woman in front of him. Wanted to know every single little thing about her. Wondered if she wanted to know everything about him. But that wasn't going to happen, Hotch knew he was never going to get the chance to get to know her like he wanted to. He may possibly have had sex with her last night but he didn't remember how she felt around him or how she sounded when he made her come and that thought bothered him.

"Hotch?" Emily asked softly as she moved closer to the man. "Are you alright?"

"Sorry," Hotch mumbled as he realized he had been thinking about things he shouldn't have, "what is it that you want to have taken care of?"

Emily's mouth dropped open at his question. "Are you kidding me?" she asked in disbelief. When Hotch stood rooted to his spot, silent, Emily knew that he had lost his memory again. Emily threw her hand up showing off the ring that wrapped around her finger. "Our marriage Hotch!"

Every cell in his body was telling him not to say what he was thinking, to not share his feelings, but his mouth opened anyway. "Would it be so bad?" he asked and watched as she arched in eyebrow in confusion. "Would it be so bad being married to me?" he whispered the last four words and Emily was almost positive that she didn't hear him right.

"What are you saying?" Emily asked clearly confused as she put her hands on her hips and turned to face him completely.

It was now Hotch's turn to walk around the room and keep his eyes on everything in the room other than the one thing he wanted to stare at the most. "Is it wrong that I don't want to get a divorce or an annulment from you? I already have a divorce under my belt and I don't want another one…not without trying at least." Hotch finally looked up at Emily and had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling at her facial expression. "Emily, I—"

"So you don't want to get a divorce because you've already been divorced?" Emily asked in disbelief. "What would we tell the team? That we got married and we're stuck together because you don't want to fill out paperwork? You've got to be kidding me," she sighed as she plopped down onto the bed and put her head in her hands.

"This has nothing to do with paperwork Emily," Hotch informed her as he stared at the top of her head. "This has to do with the fact that I'm happy today, I woke up and I was with you and I'm happy." He watched as she slowly lifted her head and their eyes finally met. "I guess deep down I hid my feelings for you, but then this morning when I woke up with you and I saw that we were married I couldn't help the feeling that ran through me." Hotch took a step closer to the bed. "I know this isn't ideal and I know that you're probably thinking that I have lost my mind," Emily nodded her head quickly, "but is it so wrong that I want to see if we could be happy together?"

"Hotch—"

"I want to see if I can make you have the same feeling I have when I'm with you. You're beautiful Emily," Hotch whispered as he knelt in front of her. "I can tell you that because we're married," he grinned, "and I don't feel bad for telling you that. We don't have to tell the team anything, we can try being married and then if things don't work we can get an annulment and no one will need to know other than us." Hotch grabbed a hold of her hands and linked his fingers with hers. "I know this is a lot to ask Emily and if you tell me that you don't feel anything for me I will find out where we need to go right now and handle this, but if you even have a slimmer of hope that this might lead somewhere tell me and we can start over."

"Start over?" Emily asked slowly.

"I can take you out on a date. No expectations. Just the two of us, in a romantic atmosphere, laughing and eating. If you have a horrible time that'll be the end of it, if you have fun though then I continue to take you out on dates. I just want a chance to know you Emily, and I think being married to you is the best way to do that."

Emily closed her eyes; she really wanted to say yes. There was nothing more that she wanted other than to go on a date with the man before her, and to get to know everything about him, but what good would that do? She would just end up feeling strongly for him and getting hurt when he changed his mind, because if she knew anything it was that the man before her was not the man she worked with. Just as she was about to refuse his offer Emily felt soft lips placed gently against hers and all the doubts she had flew from her mind as she slowly started to kiss him back.

The kiss was gentle and warm and it made her long for him in more ways than one. Hotch cupped the back of her neck and pulled her closer to him while he nipped softly on her bottom lip. Just as Emily wanted to go a little farther he pulled back and kissed her sweetly on her cheek.

"Maybe being married to you won't be the end of the world." Emily smirked as she kissed him softly again, sighed and then stood up to leave.

"Where are you going?" Hotch asked from his spot on the floor.

"I have to finish packing, our plane leaves soon," she smiled as her hand turned the door knob.

"So we're going to try this?" he asked slowly, wanting to be absolutely positive that this was what she wanted to do.

Emily turned to look at him and winked, "Yes, we're going to try this. Don't let me down." She quickly opened the door and walked out and Hotch couldn't help but let out a laugh at everything. He was married to Emily Prentiss and he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that she didn't ever want to not be married to him.


	5. Chapter 5

Hotch stood in front of his mirror, trying desperately to fix his hair. He opted to leave his suit at home, because he wanted Emily to see a different side of him. A side that she could fall in love with and want to stay married to. He took a deep breath, smiled at his reflection then walked out to go get Emily for their first date.

As he knocked on her door and waited impatiently for her to open, he couldn't help but think that they were making the wrong decision. It was so easy to get their marriage annulled and it might be better, but as Emily opened her door with a sparkling smile, Hotch knew he's never been more right about something in his life. She stood before him in white capris and a purple tank top.

"Always on time," Emily joked to the man before her as she took in his dressed down appearance. Hotch sported a dark blue shirt with the top buttons undone and khaki pants and Emily had to stop herself from salivating.

Hotch flashed her his dimples. "You look nice."

Emily couldn't help but smile at his words. "Thanks Hotch, you don't look too shabby yourself."

"Are you ready to go?"

"I'm actually curious as to where we're going," Emily informed him truthfully.

"That is for me to know and you to find out," Hotch smirked as he placed his hand on the small of her back and led her out of her building.

The ride was filled with small talk, and Emily enjoyed the fact that there were never pauses. Even though this was her first 'date' with Hotch, she felt completely at ease. Her mouth dropped open when she saw where he was pulling his car into.

"Mini golf?" she asked with a chuckle.

"Don't act like you don't like it Emily, I know you do."

Emily turned to look at Hotch and smirked, "I love it actually. Prepare yourself though sir, because I plan on kicking your ass." She quickly hopped out of the car and ran towards the gate, causing Hotch to have to catch up to her. Without thinking Emily went to grab her wallet to pay for herself when Hotch stepped closer to her and placed his hand lightly over hers causing her to drop her wallet.

"If you think you're paying, you are out of your mind." Hotch informed her as he removed his hand then paid for two games. They grabbed all their equipment and headed to the first hole. Emily looked around and was surprised to see that no one else was on the course.

"Hmm, it's pretty dead tonight." Emily observed quietly as she placed her ball down on the ground and got ready to putt.

"That's because I paid the guy off so we could have the place to ourselves," Hotch whispered as he stepped close to her just as she swung the putter back and hit the ball causing her to gasp and hit the ball too hard, making it fly off the course and into the grass.

Emily turned to face Hotch and gave him a sad look. "Look what you made me do," she pouted as she took a small step closer to him. "But, I guess since you did pay someone off just so we could play alone makes up for it." Emily smiles up at him and Hotch has to catch his breath. "Thank you, that was really sweet."

"Anytime," he started, "now if you don't mind getting out of my way I'd like to start kicking_ your_ ass in mini golf, which by the way, I'm already succeeding in."

Emily let out a laugh then pushed Hotch lightly before stepping back so he could take his first shot. By hole 5 they were tied with each other.

It was Emily's turn and she was surprised when Hotch stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, causing his hands to join hers on the putter. Hotch placed his head on her shoulder so he could see better.

"Now," he whispered, "move your legs a little farther apart and look where you want the ball to go." Emily snorted at his words which caused Hotch to tighten his arms a little bit more. "Concentrate," he chastised.

"Having a little bit of trouble doing that," she replied honestly, which caused Hotch to smile. "Why are you the one giving me pointers, shouldn't it be the other way around?" Emily smirked as she turned her head slightly to face him, and had to hide her gasp when she realized just how close his face was to hers. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop her eyes from dropping down to his lips.

"Actually, you seem to be a little rusty, so I'm just trying to help out," he informed her.

"Really," Emily started in disbelief, "because from where I stand it seems like it would be the perfect position for you to look down my shirt."

"I would never!" Hotch began, "but now that you mention it," he smirked when he heard Emily giggle then elbow him in his ribs lightly. "In all seriousness though, concentrate and envision where you want the ball to go, swing back, then let it rip," he told her as they hit the ball which resulted in a hole in one.

"Well look at that," Emily beamed as she turned to face Hotch. "I guess you were good for something."

Hotch playfully tapped her leg with his putter and smiled. "You're welcome."

Emily rolled her eyes and bowed down to show her appreciation. "Thank you ever so kindly sir, for my hole in one. What ever would I do without you?"

"It's not nice to mock people Emily," Hotch told her with a smirk.

They continued with their game and when it was all said and done, Emily counted up the totals and smiled to herself when she realized that she won. By 10 points. She couldn't stop herself from doing a victory dance at her big win.

"Clearly I should have been giving you help with your putting skills," she gloated as she walked closer to him on their way back to the car. "Now I want you to keep this little card as a constant reminder than I wiped the floor with you in mini golf," she smirked as she stopped him and suddenly became brave as she folded up the card, reached around him and slid it into the back pocket of his pants.

Hotch let out an almost inaudible groan then cleared his throat before turning her around and continuing their short walk to his car. "Thanks, I'm sure I'll need that constant reminder whenever I'm having a bad day." Hotch opened the door for Emily and she quickly got in the car, her mind replaying what she just did. Where did the sudden spurt of braveness come from? How could she be so comfortable with Hotch that she could do that? The bigger question though, was why didn't she care what the answer to either of those questions were, because she felt safe with him.

Emily had to smile at herself when she thought about how nervous she had been for this date. The entire situation was weird and the fact that Hotch wanted to see where it could go was probably the strangest thing she had heard in a while. Never in a million years would she expect him to have feelings for her, to want to get to know her better, to want to stay married to her, even though their marriage was a mistake. As she watched Hotch get in the car and start it, she couldn't help but turn towards him and just look at him. He was a very attractive man, she had always noticed that, but at least tonight he was letting her see a playful side to him, and so far she liked it. A lot.

"I hope you'll be able to live with yourself that you were beat by a girl."

Hotch turned to look at Emily and couldn't help but think how beautiful she looked at the moment, with the light from the moon coming through the window and highlighting her face. Hotch started to reach forward, then pulled his hand back, before realizing that he was allowed to touch her. Technically they were married and if he wanted to touch her he could. He reached forward again and this time he brushed a stray hair behind her ear. "I think I can handle that," he whispered softly.

There has never been a moment in his life that he has wanted to kiss someone as much as he wanted to kiss her right now, but he also knew that there was a time and place for that and this sadly wasn't that time. So he straightened up and put the car in reverse.

"I hope you're hungry."

"Starving," Emily informed him as she continued to stare at him. They pulled into an Italian restaurant parking lot and Emily waited patiently for Hotch to walk around and open the door for her again. "If I knew we were going fancy, I would have dressed up."

Hotch grabbed onto her hand and laced his fingers with hers. "I think you look beautiful." Emily squeezed his hand in return and shyly whispered her thanks. They ordered and ate dinner with comfortable conversation surrounding them. Hotch held her hand and she couldn't remember a time where she smiled so much. They stayed at the restaurant so long that they had to kick them out because they were closing.

After reaching her place, the two of them started to walk up when Hotch suddenly stopped then ran down the steps again before bending down then running back up to her side with his hands behind his back.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked.

"Nothing."

"Okay," Emily shot him an odd look as they continued into the building. They finally reached her door and now Emily felt the nerves she felt earlier coming back and she wasn't sure what she should do. Should she ask if he wanted to come in, or kiss him goodnight, like she had been wanting to do since the moment she opened her door and saw him standing before her? Maybe a hug would be more suitable.

Emily turned around to face him and beamed up at him when she saw that he had flowers in his hand. "Hotch," she laughed, "did you just pull these out of the ground outside?"

"Maybe."

"They're beautiful, I love them," she said as she took them from his hand and sniffed them. "Thank you." The duo stood there for a few seconds wondering what to do next.

"I'm not very good at this," Hotch finally blurted out. "I haven't done it in over twenty years."

"Good at what Hotch?"

"Getting a beautiful, intelligent woman to fall for me. To express how I feel. I'm very much out of practice."

Emily blushed slightly. "You don't need to woo me Hotch."

"But I'd like too. You deserve it so I'd like to try. I hope that's alright with you."

Smiling again she gripped his hand in hers. "It's great. You're great. If it's any consolation, you did a great job tonight. I haven't had a date this great in years. "

Hotch let out a sigh of relief that he hadn't realized he had been holding in, just waiting for her to say how she thought the date went. "So no regrets?"

"None," she replied honestly. "I had a fantastic time."

Hotch smiled, "I'm glad, and I know we'll have a great time on our next date." He said as he rubbed his thumb along the back of her hand as he pulled her slightly closer.

Emily felt the butterflies take flight in her stomach. She couldn't get over how he was looking at her, and she saw something in his eyes that she's never seen before, and all she wanted to do was get lost in them…but they couldn't. It wasn't the right time. So she reluctantly let go of his hand and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, and was happily surprised when he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her up against him.

Hotch couldn't help but turn his head into her neck and breathe in her scent, everything that was exclusively Emily Prentiss.

"Thank you for tonight," Emily sighed in his arms.

"Thank _you_ for giving me a chance. For giving _us_ a chance." Hotch ran his hands down her back and pulled away from her. "I'll see you tomorrow," he told her as he took a few steps back.

"Tomorrow?" she questioned.

"That's right, tomorrow, dress casual. I'll pick you up around 11." He continued to walk backwards and as he got to the steps he smiled at her, causing both dimples to come into play, and Emily had to remember to breathe. "I'll see you in the morning," and with that he was gone leaving Emily to wonder just what they were going to be doing at 11 am. But she knew as long as she was with Hotch, it didn't matter, because in the end she knew she was going to be doing something she enjoyed.


	6. Chapter 6

Right at 11, the doorbell rang and Emily opened the door to a sight she was quickly becoming accustomed to….a smiling Hotch.

"Good morning," Emily beamed as she held the door open for him to step through, and then got a pleasant surprise when someone poked their head out from around the corner.

"Emmy!" the little boy yelled as he darted into the apartment and wrapped his little arms around the stunned brunette's legs.

"Hey Jack," Emily gleamed as she bent down and picked up the ever growing boy. "Look how big you're getting. Soon I won't be able to pick you up."

Jack took this information to heart as he wrapped his legs and arms tightly around her. "You'll never be able to resist picking me up Emmy, no matter how big I get," he told her matter of factly.

Emily pulled back to look into the boys eyes and she knew he was right. "You know me so well," she laughed as she placed him back on the floor and ran a hand through his sandy hair.

The duo looked up to see Hotch staring at them both with another smile on his face, and there was something in his eyes that Emily couldn't decipher. Whatever the look was though, it made her blush.

"I was thinking that we could go to the zoo today," Hotch finally spoke up. "I thought it could be something fun we can all do together."

"That sounds like fun."

"I _love_ the zoo," Jack cheered, clearly happy with his father's choice of adventure for the day. "Can we get going? Now?" Jack grabbed a hold of Emily's hand and started to pull her towards the door. "Hurry guys, there are penguins to see!"

Both agents laughed at the small boy before following Jack obediently out of the door. The car ride was filled with animated stories of school and all of Jack's friends.

When they arrived at the zoo, Jack cheered loudly from the backseat and impatiently waited for the door to open. Emily opened the door and Jack hopped right out and latched onto Emily's hand again and pulled.

The trio entered the zoo and Hotch stood in the background as he watched how great Emily was with Jack. He always knew Emily had a way with children and that she would be a great mother some day, and he was getting to experience it first hand…with his own son. As Hotch watched Jack and Emily laugh as she held him in her arms, he realized that seeing them together was a deal breaker. No matter the consequences, no matter what others might say about how it all went down, none of that mattered to him. He wanted to be with Emily. Consequences be damned.

As Hotch walked up to the two and he slipped his hand into Emily's and watched her turn towards him and smile that beautiful Emily smile, he knew he was going to make it happen. Nothing was going to stop him. After spending two hours at the zoo, the trio went to grab lunch then headed back to Emily's apartment to drop her off.

"I had so much fun today Emmy!" Jack informed her as he hugged her again. "I love spending time with you. I hope we can do it again soon."

Emily looked up at Hotch then told Jack, "I think we can make that happen."

Hotch took a step closer. There was a time when he wasn't sure if he'd ever feel this way about anyone again and then the whole Vegas thing happened and it all allowed him to open his eyes, to see what was right in front of him for years; all he needed was a little push.

As Jack continued to say goodbye to Emily, Hotch knew that tomorrow he would tell her how he really felt. Hotch helped his son down out of Emily's arms and then stepped into them. Emily wrapped her arms tightly around Hotch's neck.

"Thanks for the zoo," she blushed as his arms tightened around her.

"Of course, Jack is smitten with you," Hotch whispered in her ear so his son wouldn't hear. "Then again so am I."

Emily sighed happily in his ear and stepped back.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Hotch told her as he headed for the door.

"Again?" Emily asked in disbelief, finding it hard that Hotch would want to go out for three dates in three days.

"Of course," Hotch smiled. "What can I say? I can't get enough."

Jack waved goodbye and then stood at the door patiently as his father rushed back in and placed a light kiss on Emily's cheek causing her to blush profusely again.

"I'll see you later beautiful," Hotch whispered against her burning cheek as he walked out of her apartment, leaving Emily falling fast.


	7. Chapter 7

_Thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story so far, I appreciate it. Thanks for everyone who sent me an idea on what could happen on their date for this one, and a special thanks to Greengirl82 for letting me use your idea! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Let me know!_

"The movies?" Emily asked with a smile as she got out of the car and waited for Hotch to come to her side on the sidewalk. "Getting a little old fashioned on me," she teased as she grabbed a hold of his waiting hand, something that always seemed to make the butterflies in her stomach go crazy.

"What can I say? I just want to be in a dark theatre with you," Hotch grinned at her and Emily couldn't help but slap his arm playfully at his words.

As the duo walk into the theatre and grab their tickets, Emily can't help but think that maybe accidently marrying him is one of the best things that's ever happened to her. Outside of work Hotch is so different and yet the same man she's always known. She had to admit that she liked both sides of him. Before she knew it they were sitting down in the darkened theatre and had about five minutes before the movie started.

Emily gazed around at the people surrounding them and realized they were all couples. An elderly couple was to their right and Emily had to smile as the woman placed her head on the mans shoulder. Moments like that were reasons why she believed in love. If those two were still in love at their age, then it was possible for anyone to remain in love. She looked around some more and her eyes landed on another couple who must be newly in love and had their tongues down each other's throats. Emily looked over at Hotch and saw that he was staring at the same couple with his mouth hanging open. He slowly turned his head towards her and gave her a look.

"Can you believe that?" he whispered quietly.

Emily stifled a laugh. "Teenagers," she said back as she shrugged.

They both turned to look at a couple who had just started having an argument. "Why do you always think you're right? Because news flash, you aren't!"

"You always act like you are better than everyone!" The man yelled back.

"And you always act like you have to protect me. It's complete bullshit! I don't even know why I came here tonight; you're never going to change!" The woman screamed as she got up and stormed out of the theatre causing the man to follow after her.

Hotch was about to comment when the lights dimmed even more and the previews started to play. Emily moved closer to him and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer. This was what made him know he wanted to be with her. Moments like this, simple and small. He was about to let him mind wander, when the words in the movie caught his attention.

"You know we have to keep it a secret, don't you?"

"I hate not being able to tell everyone that we're together. I don't know why we have to hide that we're happy together. I want to be with you, shouldn't that be all that matters?" the brunette asked.

The man stepped towards the woman and ran his hands through her hair, "We could both lose our jobs. I would never be able to forgive myself if you lost a job that you worked so hard for just because of me."

"But I would be with you, so none of that would matter."

Emily raised her head off of Hotch's shoulder and stared in disbelief at the screen. She was basically watching her dilemma with Hotch unfold right before her eyes. They had to keep what they were doing a secret because they could both lose their jobs, and if Strauss figured it all out, she would have a field day. She was five seconds away from turning her gaze towards Hotch to see if he was noticing the parallel between their life and the movie when the woman on screen launched at the man and kissed him with everything she had.

What the fuck were they watching? Clothes were being torn off and they were pushing each other into the furniture. Emily squirmed in her seat and leaned away from Hotch. Yes, she may have wanted to be with Hotch more than she could imagine, and yes, she may have wanted to spend time with him, but she did _not_ want to be watching basically a porn scene with him in a theatre surrounded by couples.

Hotch looked over at Emily and leaned in closer to her. "Do you want to get out of here?" Even though the movie was basically their lives, minus the scene that was playing now, he saw how uncomfortable Emily was, and if he was being honest, he felt the same way. Emily nodded her head and he grabbed a hold of her hand and led her out of the theatre.

"Well that was pretty weird," Emily commented as they made their way back to the car. "I thought we were seeing a comedy."

"We must have walked into the wrong theatre," Hotch chuckled from her side as he opened the car door for her.

Emily turned to look at him and saw the laughter in his eyes and couldn't help but laugh along with him. She placed her head on his chest and moved closer. "What are the odds huh?"

Hotch ran his hands through Emily's hair, causing her to look up at him. He leaned forward slowly and placed his lips lightly against hers. Emily gripped his jacket and pulled him slightly closer as she tilted her head to deepen the kiss. When air became an issue, Hotch pulled back and looked down at Emily's flushed face.

"Have I told you today how beautiful you are?"

Emily felt her cheeks flush even more at his words as she buried her face in his chest and laughed. Her arms wrapped around his waist and hugged him close. "You ready to go?"

Hotch kissed her forehead softly then stepped back and helped her into the car, and then they made their way back to Emily's.

Emily opened her door and let Hotch walk ahead of her. Hotch turned around and gave Emily a sweet third kiss of the night. His hand ran through her long raven hair and pulled her closer to him, keeping the kiss gentle yet Emily could tell there was a yearning in it. Just as her mind was taking the kiss to a place that made her unsure of what they were doing, Hotch pulled away and gave her a breathtaking smile.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Hotch sighed.

All Emily could do was give him a wave goodbye before her fingers touched her lips. She started to walk away when there was a knock at her door. Emily opened it slowly and was taken back when Hotch rushed back into her apartment, wrapped his arms around her waist, picked her up and pushed her into the nearest wall, as his mouth assaulted hers as her knees went weak.

Hotch ran his tongue along her bottom lip, begging for entrance and she happily obliged. There was a fight for dominance as their tongues battled each other. Emily wrapped her arms tightly around Hotch's neck as she tried to get closer. There was so much tension between the two and it was finally making an appearance. They may have already done all this when they were so drunk they don't even remember, but this was the first time they were even a little bit giving into temptation.

The longer the two battled, the more Emily's mind went into overdrive. As Hotch assaulted her neck with his perfect lips, Emily knew what she had to do.

"Hotch," Emily moaned softly, and he realized he's never heard a sweeter sound. "Hotch," she tried again, "stop. Stop," she whispered as her hands came and cupped his jaw, finally getting Hotch to look at her with lust filled eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he ran a finger over her now swollen lips.

Tears rushed to her eyes and she cursed herself for not being able to just live in the moment with him.

"Baby what's wrong?" Hotch asked quickly as he saw the moisture in her eyes. "I'm sorry," he rushed on, "I didn't mean to upset you."

Emily let her head fall against the wall behind her. "I don't know if I can do this," she sighed as she closed her eyes, refusing to see the look of hurt on his face.

"We don't have to do anything tonight Emily, I just wanted—"

"I don't mean sex," she whispered as she slowly opened her eyes, "I mean this…us."

Hotch looked bewildered. "What do you mean? I thought we were having a good time out on our dates. You seemed to be having fun."

"Oh God, I did, I love spending time with you." Her hand reached up to cup his cheek. "I don't want that to end because we don't work out." Emily blinked and the tears she was trying so hard to keep in ran down her flushed cheeks, causing Hotch to lightly brush them away with his thumb. "I've worked so hard to get us to a place where we are friends. To a place where you didn't treat me like you did when I first started. What if we continue to do this and it doesn't work out and then I don't have anything I've worked so hard for?" The tears came faster now and Hotch hated the fact that she felt that way.

He pulled her into a hug, "I never want you to feel like you'll lose me. No matter what happens I always want to see you, talk to you, love you. When I think about the future with us, I see rocking chairs and growing old together. I see me…with you. I know you may think something will happen and we won't be together, but you're wrong. If you want this I'm in for the long haul, and I want you to feel that way too. I can't do this alone." Hotch pulled away slightly as he placed his forehead against hers and sighed. "I need you to want this to work as much as I do."

"I do," she finally spoke up, "more than I can express."

"Then there should be no problem, because I want to be with you, and I don't want you to be uncomfortable around me. We don't have to do anything until you're ready Emily. I don't want you to feel like I'm pressuring you."

"I don't feel that way, and I do want to be with you, but I'm so worried."

"Just do me a favor," he started, "sleep on it. Weigh the pros and cons, do whatever it is that Emily Prentiss does when she makes an important decision, and then tomorrow if you want to do this, come into work and flash me one of your beautiful Emily smiles, and if you just want to stop now and get an annulment then don't look at me at all and I'll know. The ball is in your court," Hotch leaned down to place a short kiss on her cheek, "but I hope you know I want this. You. Us. In the end I hope you'll decide you want us too."

Hotch began to back away towards the door, "Sleep on it Em, and I'll see you tomorrow. Good night."

With that he was gone and Emily slid down the wall thinking of all he said, the good things that could happen, along with the bad. She wanted him, there was no doubt about that, but would it all be worth it? Could she get past all her doubts and just be happy with him?


	8. Chapter 8

Emily strolled into work the next day and couldn't wait for it to be over. She barely slept and her mind ran wild all night. Morgan said something about her appearance and she flipped him off. Then she turned her gaze to Hotch's office and saw him looking at her, expecting to see a reaction, and she didn't disappoint, a huge smile spread across her face.

Hotch let out a sigh of relief. She wanted to do this, he thought to himself. JJ interrupted his thoughts telling him they got a case.

As JJ explained the case to the team, Emily knew what she had to do. The similarities were staring them right in the face.

"I'll go undercover," she said to the group.

Hotch turned his head so fast, Emily wondered how he didn't break it. "No," was all he said, causing the rest of the team to stare at the two.

Emily turned her chair to face Hotch, "What do you mean no?" She knew he wasn't going to be happy, but she didn't think he'd say no without a second thought.

"We'll find someone else to do it. You aren't."

"Why not?"

"You. Aren't. Doing. It. This isn't up for debate Prentiss."

"I am doing this, and _that's_ not up for debate," she informed him as she stood up. "I'm going to be in the locker room getting ready," and with that Emily walked out leaving the team staring at the door with an open mouth before turning their gaze to Hotch who was now beyond pissed.

"Uh oh," JJ whispered as Hotch got up quickly and rushed out of the room.

"You aren't doing this," Hotch declared as he stormed into the ladies locker room unannounced.

Emily turned around and saw how adamant he was. "Yes I am," she informed him.

"You don't seem to realize that I'm your boss and what I say goes."

Emily had to laugh out loud. "Are you really going to pull that card with me right now Hotch? Give me one good reason why I can't go."

"It's dangerous."

"Our job is dangerous. Try again."

"What if something happens to you?"

Emily crossed her arms across her chest, "that is a risk I'm willing to take Hotch. I match everything this guy goes after, there isn't anyone else more suitable for this."

"Emily—"

"No Hotch, listen," she took a step closer, "this is our job. It deals with bad guys and murderers and a bunch of other things that go bump in the night. I know that us starting something might make it hard for you to want me to do things I would normally do, but you have to let me do my job."

Hotch opened his mouth to protest, but Emily placed her hands lightly on his shoulders. "I'm going to do everything in my power to come back in one piece. I need you to be behind me like my boss."

Hotch placed his hands on Emily's hips and squeezed. "I don't like this."

"I know," she confessed as she placed a light kiss on his cheek, "but for us to work we can't let our emotions get in the way. You still have to be stern as ever Aaron Hotchner and I have to be badass Emily Prentiss. That's the only way we're going to work. I don't like it, but we'll crash and burn if we aren't those people at work."

Hotch looked up at Emily and they locked eyes. "When'd you become so smart?" he chuckled softly.

"I may not be Reid, but I have my moments," Emily smirked as she pulled Hotch into a hug.

"You're right though. I'll let you do your job if you promise me you'll do whatever it takes to come back to me in one piece."

Emily sighed in his tight embrace, "there's no place I'd rather be."

Her confession made Hotch's heart skip a beat. She really did want them to work out and that made him hug her tighter. "Finish getting ready and I'll see you out there Agent Prentiss," Hotch said as he pulled away. He started to back up, but then she chuckled and licked her lips, causing Hotch to step to her again and kiss her deeply.

After separating he smirked at her expression then headed for the door. "That was for good luck," he informed her as he left her alone.

The undercover gig went better than expected. Emily baited the UNSUB right away and the second he went in for the kiss, Hotch swooped in causing the rest of the team to look at him questionably. Usually he let Morgan do all of that, but this time Hotch saved the day. And as the team looked on as Emily watched Hotch put the cuffs on the guy, they knew something was going on between them. They just weren't sure what.

After returning to the BAU, everyone gathered their things and headed out. All except Hotch and Prentiss. Emily made her way to his office and walked in.

"My knight in shining armor," she teased as she sat in the chair across from him, while she smirked as she watched him blush.

"I don't know what you mean," he lied.

"Hmm, maybe I'm talking about the fact that you tackled that guy like you were stopping him from scoring the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl."

"No," he began as he looked up, "I was like a man tackling someone who was about to hurt somebody that I care for. Deeply."

Emily still wasn't used to Hotch being open about his feelings like he was, so she gasped quietly.

"I'm sorry if that scares you."

"I'm just not used to it," she told him honestly. "By you or any man really." There was a slight pause before she continued quietly, "but I like it." Emily never thought she was the type of woman to want or need to guy to say sweet things to her, to let her know how they really feel, but as Hotch confessed how he felt, she had begun to realize that she enjoyed it. It made her feel special…pretty even.

Hotch saw her facial expression changing as if she was having a mental conversation with herself, but he decided not to mention it. If she wanted to share she would. "Are you heading out?"

"Yeah, unless you're almost done, then I'll wait for you."

Hotch frowned, "I actually have to stay here for a while longer to finish this all up. I'm sorry. I'd love to leave with you."

Emily smirked at his disappointing face. She walked to his side of the desk. "I'll see you tomorrow," Emily leaned down to give him a quick kiss when Hotch stood up and got on her level.

"Come here beautiful," he smiled as he pulled her close and placed his lips against hers.

Emily sank into him, like she always did when their lips collided. She wrapped her arms around his neck. The duo had no idea how long they stayed like that, but as they pulled away Hotch ran his hand through her hair.

"Good night," he breathed out.

"Night," she blushed as she stepped away from him and headed down the steps to her desk. She hated the fact that he could get her to blush so easily with just a look or a few simple words. Or even a breathtaking kiss. As she waited for the elevator to come to her floor, she knew in the end, she wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. She was falling…fast.


	9. Chapter 9

"There's something going on with them," JJ whispered to the small group huddled around Reid's desk.

"Yeah, but what?" Morgan had to ask. "There's something different about them but is it that they're freaked out that they got 'married' or do you think it's something else?"

"Maybe they're finally seeing the benefit of being together," Dave spoke up. "I mean that was our main goal wasn't it?"

"Of course it was, but we have to remember that this is Hotch and Emily we're talking about. They are two of the most stubborn and hardheaded people on this planet."

"My gumdrop will see they belong together," Garcia cheered a little bit too loud, causing the rest of the group to shush her. "Sorry," she whispered.

"Did you see the way he refused to let her go on the undercover gig the other day?" JJ mentioned. "There has to be something they're hiding because he's never acted like that before."

"They're hiding the fact they got married," Reid finally spoke up quietly from him chair.

"It's something besides that kid."

Against his better judgment, Reid decided to keep telling the team about their bad idea. "I hope you are all prepared to be killed when they find out the truth."

"You are part of this group," JJ reminded him.

"Not by choice! I wanted nothing to do with this. I had hope that they would confess how they felt when they were ready. I didn't want to force them into anything," Reid lowered his head, still ashamed at himself for being pulled into this scheme.

"Have you not seen the way he's been looking at her?" Garcia asked.

"He's always looked at her like that. He's always wanted her!"

"But it's working, just like we knew it would!" Garcia cheered once again too loudly.

"What worked?" Emily asked as she walked into the bullpen with Hotch right behind her.

Garcia snapped her mouth shut quickly and turned to face the duo with big eyes. "Nothing. I don't know what you mean," she lied.

The brunette duo looked at everyone's face around them and saw they were all trying to avoid eye contact with them. "What worked?" she repeated and as they ignored her, Emily went to the weakest link. "Reid, what worked?"

Reid's eyes latched onto hers and she saw him begin to panic. "Nothing, I had _nothing_ to do with it," he exclaimed, which got a pen thrown at him.

"To do with what?" Emily was getting frustrated. She felt like she was part of a joke, but she didn't know the punchline.

"I told them it was a bad idea."

"Kid, _shut up_!" Morgan spoke up.

"What did you all do?"

"It's not my fault. I promise Emily. I had nothing to do with it. I tried to talk them out of it. You have to believe me," Reid pleaded.

"What did they do?" Emily asked in a sweet tone.

"They dr—" Morgan's hand slapped over the geniuses mouth.

"You should be more afraid of me," Morgan informed him with a growl.

"Emily is scarier," Reid confessed as soon as he removed Morgan's hand.

"Reid," she pleaded.

"They drugged you guys in Vegas then made it seem like you slept together and got married, but I had nothing to do with it. I swear," Reid rushed on.

Emily and Hotch's mouth dropped open. "They what?" Hotch asked as they both turned to glare at the rest of the team.

"Why would you do that to us?"

"We wanted to push you two together to see if you guys could be happy together and I guess it worked.

"We did it for you guys!" Garcia chimed in. She hated how Emily was looking at her.

"Do you know how dangerous drugging someone is?"

"I told them," Reid informed them. "They told me it would be like the Hangover."

Emily had heard enough. "Did you guys _watch_ the Hangover? You guys knew we weren't married the whole time and you knew we thought we were. Do you know how much stress I've been under? I can't look at you guys right now," she told them as she turned and walked away, leaving everyone staring after her retreating form.

"What were you thinking?" Hotch asked sternly.

"We wanted you two to see how great you'd be together, and it worked." JJ spoke up.

"That it did, but it doesn't make anything you did right. I'm disappointed in all of you," and with that he walked off to find Emily.

"I guess it wasn't that great of an idea," Garcia said sadly.

"I told you guys that the first day," Reid said. "No one ever listens to me."


	10. Chapter 10

_I want to take a second and thank everyone so very much who took the time to review my story last chapter. I know it was long overdue but I ran into a brick wall but I think I'm getting some of my mojo back…hopefully! But seriously though, thank you all so much, for sticking with this story with me. I really do appreciate it!_

Hotch ran down the steps after Prentiss knowing she would very well go into a panic attack soon. He was fuming at the five people upstairs. How could they do that to them? _Why_ was probably the better question. He got to the garage just in time to see Emily briskly walking to her car.

"Emily!" he shouted causing the woman to turn and glare at him.

"What?" she barked.

For a split second he stopped at her tone, before quickly coming to stand before her. "Are you alright?"

"No! How could I possibly be okay? Everything we've been stressing out for a week has all been a lie! We aren't married. We were _drugged_. By our friends! What part of that would make me okay?" she cried out.

Hotch placed his hands on her shoulders in what he hoped was a calming action, but he realized he was wrong when she took a step back out of his reach. A sharp pain ran through his gut at her action. He wasn't the one who betrayed her. He didn't do anything wrong, so he had to wonder why she was moving away from him.

"I know Emily and I'm beyond pissed at all of them, but maybe they really were doing it for us."

"You don't drug your friends and make them think they got married. They did nothing for us. Whatever the reason they did this, it was for them. All of it." Emily let out a bitter laugh. "Can you imagine them laughing at us behind our backs? Laughing because we were stupid enough to fall for their prank?"

"I really don't think it was like that," Hotch started, only to be cut off by a very angry woman, who he noticed was getting angrier by the second.

"What did they hope to accomplish? How did any of this benefit_ them_? I just want to punch all of them for doing this!" She crossed her arms over her chest in a defensive stance. "For a week we've been doing this stupid little dance, hoping we'd fall for each other so we wouldn't have to get an annulment, and it was all for nothing. We don't have to worry about that anymore because it was all a lie! How could we be so stupid? It was all a joke. And for what? Nothing happened, it didn't work!" For the first time Emily looked up at Hotch and saw the hurt look on his face. It didn't take long to realize he wasn't hurt because of what the team did to them; he was hurt because of what she just said.

"Oh no," Emily started as she dropped her arms down to her side, "I didn't mean it like that!"

"You don't need to apologize," Hotch lied as he took a step back, putting more space between them. "It's how you feel, I just wish I knew that a few days ago."

Emily shook her head. "It came out wrong," she tried again. "I've loved our moments together and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. I just wish they didn't happen because of a lie."

There was no denying the doubt in Hotch's eyes. He was having trouble believing her and he didn't want to have this conversation with her, yet he couldn't walk away without her knowing everything.

"I feel pretty stupid," Hotch admitted quietly. "I really thought we had something, I thought we could _be_ something, but now I realize you were only doing it because I asked you to try. I wouldn't have held anything against you if you just let me know in the beginning that this would never happen, but you strung me along, all because what? Did you think it would be better that way?"

"Hotch that's not—"

"I don't want to hear anything you have to say. It's not like I'm going to believe what's coming out of your mouth now anyway." Hotch took another step away from her. "I'm sorry I wasted your time with this 'stupid little dance,'" he repeated her words and watched as Emily's eyes filled with tears. "I hope I didn't keep you from anything important."

Hotch turned away from the brunette and started to walk back to the stairwell. He had to get away from her, even though going back into the bullpen wasn't going to be any better.

"Wait!" Emily cried out. She quickly followed after him, knowing she had to explain what she had said and why. When Hotch kept walking she started to panic. "Please stop," she pleaded before grabbing a hold of his arm and pulling him to a stop.

Hotch pulled his arm from her grasp before he turned towards her. "I have nothing else to say to you _Prentiss_," he snarled.

Emily's heart dropped at him saying her last name, especially in that tone. No, no, no, she chanted in her mind, knowing she needed to explain it to him, but he gave her one of his famous Hotchner glares and she stepped back and had no choice but to watch him fling open the door to the stairs then disappear from her view.

There was only one word that came to her mind as she realized what she just did and what she was going to lose if she didn't fix this…

Fuck.


	11. Chapter 11

_I am so so so so so very sorry for the late delay for the chapter. This year has started off horrible so far and I just haven't had the time to get anything up. I really hope this chapter makes up for it though. Let me know what you think if you have a minute._

The rest of the day was beyond awkward for everyone involved. Hotch had stormed through the glass doors and glared at the five people looking at him frightened, before he slammed his office door shut for the rest of the day.

The five looked at each other then at the glass doors again, waiting for Emily to pass though them, but she never came in. They finally gave up and dispersed with a worried look on their faces. JJ and Garcia tried repeatedly calling Emily to no avail and Dave got his head bit off when he opened Hotch's office door. There was no doubt about it, they had fucked up. Royally. It was clear that whatever was going on between the two brunettes before the big reveal was not going on now.

Reid was the first to leave for the day and he knew exactly where he needed to go, so when he got to his destination, he had to take a deep breath before finally knocking.

Emily opened her door with more force than she needed and then tried to slam the door shut once she saw Reid on the other side, but he shoved his foot in, halting her plan.

"What do you want?" Emily asked completely exhausted.

"I wanted to see how you were," he said quietly.

Emily let go of her door and walked inside leaving Reid to follow. He trailed behind her then sat next to her on the couch. He took a second to take in her posture. Her shoulders were slumped and she was tense.

"I'm really sorry Emily," Reid began to apologize. "I tried to talk them out of it, but I failed. I know I should have told you, but something stopped me. Maybe it was because I thought in the end you two would be perfect together and this was what you needed to push you two closer."

To Reid's surprise, instead of yelling at him, Emily began to cry. He was at a loss. Why wasn't she yelling at him telling him how horrible he was? Reid moved closer and placed his hand on her back and rubbed soothing circles. He wasn't sure what else to do so he did the only thing he could think of. He just hoped she wouldn't notice.

"I fucked up," Emily sobbed. "I was so mad at you guys and I said thinks I didn't mean to him and…" she trailed off, continuing to cry.

"Please don't cry," Reid said softly. "Everything can be fixed."

Emily shook her head. "No it can't. Not this. He's never going to forgive me. You didn't see his face. It was like I took all of his hopes and dreams away and I guess I did, but I didn't mean it. I've never felt the way I feel about him with anyone. I love the way he makes me feel and who I am when I'm with him. I have no idea how to fix this Reid, and I don't think he'll ever look at me again."

Reid pulled the crying woman into his arms. "This is all our fault. If we didn't trick you guys, you both would have figured out that you were crazy for each other on your own. We ruined it all."

"It was all me. I'm still pissed with what everyone did, but I'm the one who is the real asshole here. Reid, I never knew I could feel this feel about someone. I think somewhere along the way I fell in love with him." Reid let out a gasp at her admission and he watched her shake her head. "No, no, there's no thinking, I know I did. I love him," she whispered. Emily's eyes locked onto Reid's. "I am _in _love with him."

Before Reid could say anything there was a knock at her door. "I'll get it," he told her, hoping he was right about who was on the other side, and he hoped he heard all of it. The moment he opened the door and saw the phone pressed to the mans ear he knew he heard every confession.

"She's on the couch Hotch," Reid informed him as he closed his phone and watched Hotch do the same. "I'll see you at work tomorrow," he said as he closed the door behind him, leaving the two to work out their problems.

Hotch took a step into her apartment and prepared himself before turning the corner and seeing her crying on the couch. No matter how much what she said hurt his feelings; he couldn't stand there and just watch her cry—over him.

He quietly sat the couch and pulled her into a hug. The moment she realized her hugger had more muscles than Reid she pulled back and locked eyes with the man causing her tears.

"Hotch," she cried out as she flung her arms around his neck, hugging him close. "I'm so sorry," she confessed, "I didn't mean it. I've loved every second I spent with you. You showed me the real Aaron Hotchner and I don't care the reason I got to see him, I'm just happy I did! I'm so sorry, please forgive me. I never meant to hurt or upset you. I would never want to do that. I'm sorry," she whispered again and Hotch pulled her closer causing her to sit on his lap.

"Tell me what you told Reid," Hotch said softly in her ear. Emily leaned back and looked at him with confused eyes. "He called me when he was here and I heard everything you said to him. So I want you to say to me the last thing you said to him."

It took a minute to figure out what the last thing she said was, but it finally dawned on her and she blushed suddenly. It was different blurting it out to Reid than it is to tell the man it was meant for.

Emily took a deep breath than locked eyes with Hotch and firmly confessed, "I love you."

A huge smile broke over Hotch's face and Emily let out a sigh of relief. Hotch cupped her face and pulled her closer as he wiped her tears with his thumb. "I love you too, Emily."

He leaned forward to close the gap in between them and placed his lips gently against hers.

Emily pulled back and sniffled, "So does this mean you forgive me?" she ran her hands lovingly over his strong shoulders.

Hotch grabbed a hold of her hand and kissed her palm. "How could I stay mad at someone who means so much to me? I know why you said what you said, but please don't do it again."

Her arms wrapped around his neck and peppered kisses along his jaw. "I promise," she repeated in between kisses.

"I think the bigger question is," he started, "what are we going to do with those five?"

Emily pulled back then let a devious smile play across her lips. "Oh, I have an idea," and with that she placed her lips back on his for a heated kiss.

_So what did you think? Again I'm really sorry for taking so long. I'll try harder to get the next chapter up quicker. Hope you guys still like it!_


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